Club youth sports teams: Why should anybody other than parents GAF?

There's a difference between youth baseball -- which is usually Little League -- and the club sports Starman is talking about.

People can get behind Little League even if there's no connection, if it's the local league. These pre-formed travel teams that go play in a "state championship" where there's no qualification other than signing up, those are the teams he's talking about. And that's where nobody cares.

 

I used to have fun explaining to people that very few people cared about their little events.

"But everyone is going to be there!"

Me:"who's everyone?"

"We have 100 people or so."

Me: "Our circulation is 5,000. That means 4,900 don't care."

 

I bet if you applied that standard consistently, you'd have a pretty empty sports section.

 

I hope you're joking for effect.

 

"Our circulation is 5,000, but the population of our coverage area is 20,000. That means 19,900 don't care."

 

So somebody has to attend an event to care about the result? That's interesting.

Does anybody in this profession step back anymore and consider the fact that they're jaded after years of having this stuff pushed on them?

 

A large part of their vision of the profession is based on the idea that what small-town sportswriters do is somehow "important." Like 101 of those 5000 just can't wait to read about how some swimmer overcame a broken leg.

 

For something that small, yes. If you want something covered, give me a hook besides that they work hard so I can write something to make the other 4,900 care.

 

While you were on the phone, 25 of your 5000 died of old age and 50 more let the subscription lapse because they could get all the news they care about online.

 

Are you telling all these sportswriters at 5,000 dailies that what they do holds no importance?

 

Why limit such a statement to only the smaller dailies?

 

Our shop's policy ... if people submit club team pics/results, we run them as space allows. There are two full pages budgeted for "youth sports" stuff every Wednesday, and for much of the year, that holds most of it.

And yeah, Little League and our local American Legion teams are covered a bit more than that during their postseason tourney runs. There's a bit more general interest in those teams.

Club youth sports? No general interest.